A look at the short and medium wave "hobby" or pirate radio scene in Europe from an English viewpoint

Monday, 31 October 2016

Logs of Monday 31st October 20166205 @ 1638Non-Stop 90s - 35434;"A Design For Life" by Manic Street Preachers, ID jingle, Relay of Dublin based FM pirate5800 @ 1644Laser - 35434;"Jazzman" by Carole King, "Song On The Radio" by Al Stewart4029 @ 1646Laser - 35444;"Song On The Radio" by Al Stewart1625 @ 2017Saporro - 35444;ID and chat in Dutch, "Tragedy" by The BeeGees, CD 20251640 @ 2103Veronica - 34434;ID and talk in Dutch, phone number, ID again, "Mein Schatz, Du Bist 'Ne Wucht" by Chris Roberts1625 @ 2112Vrolijke Mijnwerker - 45434;Various Dutch and polka style tracks, ID, then CD @ 21171655 @ 2120Oldtimer - 45434;"Droog Je Tranen, Jacqueline" by Four TakHalloween and few special stations. I believe Enterprise from Italy was doing a Halloween special on 6950 but nothing was received here on the inverted V, but some bursts of audio were heard on the Wellbrook Loop. Conditions should improve in the next few days on 48 metres as the K index settles down and the A index returns to single figures. All will be revealed!

Sunday, 30 October 2016

Logs of Sunday 30th October 20166205 @ 1550Non-Stop 90s - 35433;ID jingles and adverts, Dublin based FM station, relay, "You Don't Fool Me" by Queen5800 @ 1559Laser - 25232;"Star" by Erasure, noisy signal, band not open for short and medium skip4029 @ 1602Laser - 35434;"Ain't No Love" by Sub Sub ft. Melanie Williams, ID jingle "Laser"6325 @ 1638Joey - 35333;Dance style music, in and out of the noise, peaks at 45434, then disappeared around 5 minutes later1647 @1644Witte Tornado - 35444;"Richtig Boarisch" by Z3 & Die 3 Zillietaler, 45444 at times later1625 @ 1753Pandora - 35444;ID & talk in Dutch, "Komotauer Polka" by Neue Böhmische Blasmusik1638 @ 1931Bluebird - 45444;"Up Around The Bend" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, greets to me @ 20373905 @ 1938Alice - 25322;Dance style music, ID via Chat, Band starting to close1629 @ 2053Blauwe Koe - 35444;ID and short report to Saporro after playing various Dutch & German tracks, "Magnetic Fields Pt 2" by Jean-Michel Jarre @ 21051665 @ 2220 Polkaman - 25322; peaks at 35333, sometimes down into the noise, but mostly readable signal, ID around 2233, mostly polka music, "Brass Buttons" by The String-A-Longs @ 22411655 @ 2256 Snowman - 24222; peaks at 35434, then long fades down into the noise, but good peaks, greets to me @ 2259, "Guardian Angel" by Dana Winner @ 2256, "Take On Me" by A-Ha @ 2259, "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place" by The Animals @ 2302Putting the clocks back to winter time did not have any effect on the 48 metre band which still refused to offer any short skip signals. Joey from NL was briefly heard and the relay on 6205 was fairly good for a while, but nothing was heard at this location from the religious pirate "Reflections Europe" on 6295, which is unusual. 76 metres again closed here around 1945 and broadcast stations were also weak (e.g. on 3955).Medium Wave, however, allowed some strong signals this evening.

Thursday, 27 October 2016

Logs of Thursday 27th October 20166205 @ 1545Non-Stop 90s - 35434;ID jingle, relay of Dublin FM station, "Let's Talk about Sex" by Salt-N-Pepa5800 @ 1600Laser - 35333;"Keep On Walkin'" by Ce Ce Peniston, ID @ 16111630 @ 1722Yogi & Dr Einstein - 34333;"Band On The Run" by Paul McCartney & Wings, "Fortunate Son" by CCR @ 1724, ID in English1620 @ 1853Schaduwjager - 35444;"Queen of Hearts" by Juice Newton1638 @ 1925Bluebird - 34444;Strong signal, some near channel QRM, easily notches out with filtering, chat in dutch, "Amore Amore Amore" @ 1953The 48 metre band still continues to not favour short skip after the high indices of recent days. News has also reached me that a number of MW and a well-known SW / MW station in the Netherlands have recently been visited by the AT (Agentschap Telecom), the Dutch radio licensing authority. My best wishes to the stations concerned. Further details can be found in the news section of the SWCH website:http://www.swcholland.com/news-2/

Sometimes you think you know all there is to know about your hobby and then you come across an article that makes you think again! I have just finished reading a very informative and interesting article from the "MW Free Radio" blog which contains almost everything you need to know about how to find and listen to Medium Wave pirates from the Netherlands. It also gives an insight into the fascinating history of some of the operators and their stations.The only thing the article does not do is teach you how to speak Dutch (that comes later!)Take a look at the article entititled "Dutch MW pirates: a brief history and how to hear them" here:

Friday, 21 October 2016

Logs of Friday 21st October 20161620 @ 1810Sterrekijker - 35434;Chat in Dutch, ID on Chat, "Idioot" by Mooi Wark @ 1824, "Funky Town" by Global. Kryner, ID @ 1839, greets to me4029 @ 1939Laser - 34444;"A Better Love" by Londonbeat, without SSB QRM 354441620 @ 2054Santana - 35444;"Lots of ID and chat in Dutch, "A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)" by Marty Robbins6975 @ 2112Blue Dragon - 35433;"Dark Light" by KISS, ID via Chat1640 @ 2132Professor Sikbok - 35444;Polka style music, ID, Dutch trackIt was good to be back at the controls this evening, although I missed the activity on 48 metres. I have been in Belgium since Tuesday on a short break. The motorways in England were less than kind and it took me 5 hours to get back home. But there were some good signals on Medium Wave.

Thursday, 13 October 2016

Logs of Thursday 13th October 20166290 @ 1718Panda - 24333;"The Sun Always Shines On TV" by A-Ha1629 @ 1724Vrolijke Mijnwerker - 35444;Music, ID, talk in Dutch, thank you and CD1650 @ 1737Metaxa - 34333;ID and talk in Dutch, "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls1632 @ 2013Armada - 35433;ID, music, Talk in Dutch1632 @ 2017Turftrekker - 3-45434;Responding to Armada in QSO, instrumental musicA few minutes after I heard Panda there was a station on 6300 with a good signal, but within a few seconds both stations had disappeared. The band had closed for short skip. There was also flutter on longer distance stations in the 49 metre band.